Concert Tickets at Center of Murder-Suicide Probe

A tragic case of murder-suicide involving two old friends from Washington, Pa., has taken a strange twist that relates to their favorite band. Friends and family are speculating that their deaths may have stemmed from an argument that erupted over concert tickets for Phish.

CBS reports that Nate Roman and Michael Marchines began arguing at a local restaurant around 2:30 in the morning on April 25. The fight quickly escalated, and a short time after they left the restaurant, Roman was shot multiple times and killed.

Family members believe that the fight may have been over $3,000 Roman recently dropped on Phish tickets. According to Roman’s stepfather Harry Damerow, “Nathan was a coal miner and liked to travel and see the Phish. He worked hard. He enjoyed traveling all over the world to watch these guys.”

Roman was found by a third party who called police. Authorities immediately started looking for Marchines through cellphone tracking and found him down the street with a gunshot wound to the head, allegedly self-inflicted. Police believe there was at least a 20-minute break between the two shootings, since it appears that Marchines was on the run.

Although police are not commenting on the specifics of the case, Roman’s sister said she wouldn’t be surprised to hear that they were arguing over Phish tickets. "They lived for that all the way,” Casey Roman told a local reporter. ”I totally believe it. My brother just purchased $3,000 worth of Phish tickets and planned to have a really good time with them.”

Police have recovered local surveillance video and will continue their investigation. No official motive has been confirmed by authorities at this time.